Funny that... my husband posted a link to our Chick Cam at his work place, and he started getting instant messages from several folk. One in particular said something along the lines of, "Where did your wife get your chickens and your coop? I'm not allowed to come home until my wife is satisfied that we are working towards getting our own chickens."

I get questions like that all the time. "Where did you buy your chickens?" "At the feed store". I usually don't go too in depth, because while some people might fancy getting birds, most wouldn't put in the time and money for housing and fencing and such. The lady I give eggs to across the street knows that we are moving in the summer and says she wants to take our flock of 15. She says she is trying to convince her husband. Yet she has no idea about how to care for chickens and doesn't have a clue that the three dogs that run her backyard probably wouldn't be too amenable to the idea of sharing their space with a bunch of yardbirds.

Same with me, but I've worked hard to educate people interested in birds. I've kept and eye out for used copies of chicken care books so I can loan them out without fear of not getting them back. I've talked as many people out of getting chickens as I've helped get birds.

I've built tractors for 3 friends and relocated 4 small coops I've gotten for free. Two of my neighbors have rehabbed thier old coops and gotten back into chickens after coming over and enjoying mine. It's been a real explosion of backyard flocks around here.

The first thing I tell them is "My first egg was a $500 egg" That's about what I spent the first 23 weeks until they started laying - and GEEZ those babes can EAT!!!!!! I feed 7 pullets as much as my 80lb lab!!!!